Poetry & literacy resources by published children's poet.
I also lead poetry workshops for UK primary schools.
Website: katewilliamspoet.com
Book news - Squeak! Squawk! Roar! Animal poems - out 9th January '25. Publisher: Otter-Barry Books.
Poetry & literacy resources by published children's poet.
I also lead poetry workshops for UK primary schools.
Website: katewilliamspoet.com
Book news - Squeak! Squawk! Roar! Animal poems - out 9th January '25. Publisher: Otter-Barry Books.
Windy Day poetry-writing sheet.
Creative writing frame on wild, blustery day theme, illustrated, with** teacher’s guide sheet.**
Format: poem in 4 verses, with gaps for action words, onomatopoeia and similes. Rhymes incorporated. Guide sheet provides completed example poem, with word and simile bank below, handy for quick reference when guiding and prompting students.
Able writers can develop the poem with follow-on verses, introducing their own approaches if wished, while those needing support will enjoy the simplicity of inserting their word and simile ideas into the gaps to make a flowing, rhyming poem.
More weather poem frames available in my catalogue too.
Squeak, howl, roar, rustle - there are countless exciting jungle sounds to pick from, and more to invent, when filling the lines on this lively picture. Hints of creatures and vegetation are sketched around the 12 writing lines to inspire ideas and add to the fun. Start by thinking up some jungle creatures and plant types together and making their sounds, perhaps listing a few, and encourage made-up words and sounded-out spellings. More examples: chatter, snap, hum, buzz, shriek, flap, yelp, crash, hiss, splash, croak, tweet, swish, crunch, bark. The sheet can then be coloured and displayed, or used as a stepping-stone to further creative writing, or enacted as a performance, or brought to life with percussion and musical instruments, or just used to celebrate a related topic.
My published poem 'Stormy Sea’is a dramatic, simile-rich poem in 20 lines.
It’s easy to read and listen to, with rhymes and rhythm, conjuring up exciting images.
SEE ALSO - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/stormy-sea-poetry-frame-guide-12043779.
**Snappy dragon rhymes - with key colours.
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Great for all ages, especially early years, developing rhythm, rhyme, language, creativity and expressive confidence. Scope for drama, music and art developments.
Once there was a dragon dressed in red.
He liked to stay all day in…
You can guess the last word, as can the children, though some may prefer to offer alternative rhymes.
Red is just one example of the numerous colours featuring in these crazy dragon verses, which lend themselves to being enacted, and even sung to a made-up tune, as well as chanted and clapped. Follow on with dragon sketches or try my dragon’s menu for easy, crazy writing fun.
Dragon inspiration!
Dragons are ever-popular with children, and make great starting points for all sorts of teaching, from creative writing and expressive arts and design, to studies of myths and legends, fire, flight, colour, movement, and even for counting - why not? These red, pink and green ones have been key to my numerous dragon poetry workshops this year. Great for all ages.
This illustrated wild weather poetry frame inspires expressive action words and similes to depict a windy, stormy scene. The example poem offers prompts and guidelines for teachers and/or students. Best for KS2, Yrs 3-6.
Versatile resource to discuss, add to, prompt with, link and build with, or hand out individually for reference for descriptive writing on ‘Spring’ and related topics. Supports work on Seasons, Environment and Nature, Colour and more, as well as Literacy, including vocabulary-building, expressive writing and verbal language skills.
**SEE ALSO - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/springtime-creative-writing-harder-easier-frames-12078237 + https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/3-spring-rhymes-12070798 .
This beautiful and fascinating picture of a lush, flowery meadow will inspire children to colour in the details with thought and imagination. It promotes understanding of the natural world, including mini-beasts and birds, and develops fine motor skills, colour sense and pattern and shape awareness, also offering a focus for discussion.
See also my video-poem - ‘Summer Grass’ - https://youtu.be/WWBSjiBTDOg
Insect words - for creative writing and poetry.
Quick reference for prompts and inspiration.
Handy for teacher and/or students, for developing the love of rich, expressive writing, and igniting other possibilities and developments.
Use as spurs for similes, metaphors, descriptive poems, ‘What am I?’ riddles, nature study write-ups, and to bring mini-beast topics alive.
See my many other Mini-beast and nature resources too.
Seaside writing resource for young children. “Shells can be…” with short, thick writing lines between shell representations for describing words. Supporting guide sheet for teacher also included. Start by handing round some shells, encouraging children to study, feel and listen to them. Discuss their properties, prompting for words like curly, light, hard, smooth, rough, shiny, hollow, round, twisty, pretty, patterned and delicate. Then present sheet, demonstrating how they can have a go at writing their word ideas on the lines. Perhaps try some together on the board first. After the activity, invite all to choose a word to read out or say. The shells can then be coloured or decorated.
This pretty woodland picture will attract young children, and the big, bright, highlighted text will motivate them to read or sound out the ten animal words. These are all familiar, one- and two-syllable words, such as robin, frog, ants and rabbits. A handy resource for phonics and reading practice and monitoring, best used one-to-one or in small groups for most children, though able readers will enjoy working out the words independently. Also suitable for advanced EY and lower ability Yr 2 children. The resource will also support work on woods, countryside, animals, mini-beasts and nature generally.
Squirrels are fun to watch and write about, so your class will enjoy this writing sheet. The illustrations will spur ideas, and the Guide sheet will supply you with a handy list of further ideas to bring in. Follow the warm-up introduction suggestions to get everyone focused and enthused first, and set colouring pencils ready for shading in the illustrations when they’ve all had a go and read out their chosen words and phrases.
The resource supports creative writing, vocabulary development and other aspects of English, while also nurturing an appreciation of the natural world and local environment.
This is an exciting, fascinating picture-poem frame, in 3 variations of graded difficulty. It will inspire your 5-7 year-olds to get dreaming and writing, drawing on passive vocabulary to express their buzzing imagination. Their castle might be dark, damp and gloomy, or grand, golden and magical, or ancient, crumbling and haunted. It’s as old as …, and as [__] as __ .
What will you find inside? Treasure? A sword? A secret message? Who lives there? A lonely ghost? A fiery dragon? A bossy king? And what does he/she like to do? There’s scope for drama, humour and mystery here. Recommended for Yrs 1-2.
Supports Poetry, Literacy and History.
See my other Castle-themed resources too.
This richly illustrated creative writing sheet will engage your Reception and Year 1 emergent writers, triggering ideas about what could be under the sea, and encouraging adventurous descriptive language.
See differentiated versions too - same price.
See my inspiring videos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/wkeZ8K6iCfcFQneZ9
reading of published poem - ‘Treasure Chest Mystery’ - https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipMarEm9uVBDEGPTykSlkAfT6jdVArKlPen6X5lk1le7dqUc89gEztNjSO7V6qsxUQ?key=X0hIWmdaV1M0Q2lHYURKbDdIVFFPMTVBTWRUdkhn
Warm your class to the subject first, building ideas of what could be under the sea, and words for describing those items, including fish - the only given item here. Fish might be various colours and patterns (stripy, spotty), fast or slow, darting, dashing or twitching, scaly, shiny, twinkly, shimmering, or even quiet, peaceful, friendly or gentle.
This home-made creative writing frame is in the form of a snake, in a jungle setting. The starter phrase, ‘This snake is’, invites describing words on the line through the snake.
The task could be presented as poetry-writing or just as a description. WARM-UP - Motivate and inform your group first through other snake- and jungle-themed activities, such as pretending to be making your way through a jungle, encountering creatures, fallen trees, swamps and other hazards, and discussing pictures of snakes. WORD IDEAS - Elicit words that could be used in this writing activity, such as ‘long’, ‘twisty’, ‘scaly’, ‘fast’, ‘dry’, ‘slimy’, ‘twirly’, ‘poisonous’, ‘shy’, ‘hungry’, ‘loopy’, ‘curly’ and ‘hissing’.
SEE ALSO -
Harder version **- https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/snake-picture-poem-frame-yr-2-11885186
JUNGLE writing + colouring sheet - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/jungle-writing-colouring-sheet-1-line-12045631 .
This serene scene will appeal to your children’s imagination, as they put themselves in the place of the happily gliding children. With the ocean, palm trees and setting sun below, and the soft, clear sky around them, this fantastical image will inspire your class to write, draw, discuss or enact the concepts conveyed. It could be used in combination with my magic mat poetry-writing sheet, for instance, available in my shop here. It will also brighten up a dark corner, of course!
This attractive colouring sheet features a boat on a wavy sea, with a waving sailor (female), beautiful fish below, plus shells, seaweed, birds, clouds, sun and kite. A cheerful, stimulating and informative picture, with wide scope for colouring and discussion.
Supports study of seaside, ocean, seabed, seasons, holidays, travel, colour and more. Develops fine motor skills and colour differentiation.
**SEE ALSO: ** - Yr 1 Phonics - UNDER the SEA https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/yr-1-phonics-under-the-sea-11912400, UNDER THE SEA graded picture frames - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/under-the-sea-picture-poem-frames-ey-ks1-11927198, POND COLOURING SHEET - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/pond-colouring-sheet-12047603 , + SEASIDE WRITING + COLOURING SHEET - https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/seaside-writing-colouring-sheet-simple-12099515 .
This lively picture will engage young children, with its interesting details and colouring scope. The resource supports autumn, nature, animals, movement and colour studies, as well as developing fine motor skills and artistic expression. See my Hedgehog and Leaf colouring sheets and squirrels/woods writing frames for more autumn wood activities.
Seasonal fun activity to stretch language and creativity! Beautiful autumn leaf picture to write on, with prompts and writing lines. Colouring potential too. Great for wall display. Let children gather, inspect and play with leaves, then write these sheets freely. Prompt for colour words, textures, movements - gliding, spinning, twirling through the sky. (What sort of sky?) Similes invited. Lots of poetic and expressive scope. Promotes calm and joy.
Mental wellbeing, inclusiveness, self respect and confidence are supported in this poem, besides literacy and performance skills. Boost students’ self-esteem and motivation with this upbeat rhyme and its positive message about individualism. Through simple words, rhymes and rhythm, it celebrates the fact that everyone is different, just like the leaves of a tree. Written specifically as a PSHE resource by myself - a well-published children’s poet, after seeing the need for confidence boosts in children of all backgrounds.